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Summertime Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Last summer, I signed us up for a local CSA, which saved me some time on my weekly grocery shop and also introduced me to a whole variety of produce I probably would not have otherwise purchased. This definitely got the creative juices flowing! At one point I had so much rhubarb that I ended up with about 6 jars of homemade jam and a delicious pie. I’ve had the same jam and pie on my cooking to-do list for this summer, but have been sidetracked getting ready for the baby (and Jay trying his best, for my own good, to keep me out of the kitchen and off my feet!). Also, the CSA I participated in last year isn’t running this summer, so I haven’t had a fridge full of produce waiting to be turned into something yummy.

On Canada Day, we had lunch at the home of our friends Noah and Sheryl; luckily for me, they had two huge rhubarb plants growing in their garden and were running out of things to do with it. Time for a pie!

The crust on this pie can really be used for anything, sweet or savoury. I’ve used it before for a quiche, and it turned out excellent. The nice thing about it is that you can make it ahead of time and leave it in the fridge for up to one week. For the filling, you can go with strawberry rhubarb, or just plain strawberries, or any other fruit filling that you’d like.

In a medium bowl, mix together all dry ingredients for crust. Cut in the crisco until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a separate bowl, whisk together water, egg yolk vanilla and vinegar. Stir into the flour mixture and knead dough briefly (this can be done in a mixmaster with a dough hook), just until smooth. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes before rolling out.

While dough is resting, mix together sugar and flour for filling in a large bowl until combined. Add strawberries and rhubarb, and toss until well coated. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Divide dough in half if you’re doing a full crust on top, or 2/3 and 1/3 if you’re doing a lattice crust. Roll out dough to about ¼ inch thick and large enough in diameter to fill the pie dish with about an inch to an inch and a half hanging over the side.

Pour filling into pie crust (if there is a lot of liquid from the sugar in the fruit, try not to pour it all in, otherwise pie will be watery), and then cover top with remaining crust. Fold excess dough that is hanging over the edge up to form a crust. If you are doing a lattice crust and need a demonstration, click here.

Brush top of crust either with some of the liquid from the fruit, or with an egg yolk. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top.

Bake at 400 for 35 to 40 minutes, or until bubbly and brown. If top crust is browning too quickly, cover part way through baking with tin foil and continue baking. Cool on rack.